46 Pound Nottely Striper Caught On Video

Mason Tompkins, 11, of Milledgeville, caught a 46-lb. Lake Nottely striper on April 9 while fishing with his parents Tim and Dawn and his brother Kolby. The family was fishing with Jeremy Seabolt with Lake Nottely Fishing Charters.

Mason Tompkins, 11, of Milledgeville, had the catch of the day with his 46-lb. Lake Nottely striper on April 9.

Mason was fishing with his parents Tim and Dawn, his 8-year-old brother Kolby and Jeremy Seabolt, who runs a guide service on Lake Nottely.

“We were trolling freelines,” said Jeremy. “The fish hit in open water about 60 feet deep.”

Mason’s mom, Dawn, said they decided to take a vacation to Helen, and they wanted to take the boys fishing, so they booked a guide trip with Jeremey. She said it took about 10 minutes to get the fish to the boat.

“It was hard. It stalled a couple seconds, but when it started swimming again, he got more powerful,” said Mason. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘Did I catch that?’”

Mason’s mom was able to get the awesome catch on video.

“It was just amazing,” said Dawn. “His face just lit up, and his brother, Kolby, is in the back of the video, and his mouth is just wide open. It was really cool.”

Jeremy said this time of year he catches stripers on freelines and planer boards with big bait, and over the next few weeks, he will continue using this method.

“I mix it all up,” Jeremy said. “I usually put out four pieces of big bait and four small baits to figure out what they want for the day.”

The current lake record for striped bass is 53-lbs., 12-ozs. That big lineside was caught by Christopher Hampton on April 28, 2002.